


Game

by Ill_Ratte



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Horror, Kidnapping, M/M, Menstruation mention cw, Post-canon Of sorts, Trans Gavin Reed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:13:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21578923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ill_Ratte/pseuds/Ill_Ratte
Summary: Gavin Reed has been gone. Missing for months, right after being assigned to be the partner of the new RK900. But when Nines and Connor and Hank finally find him, against all odds, something seems... off. But Gavin, badly shaken and off his meds for months, claims some *thing* kidnapped him.
Relationships: Hank Anderson/Connor, Original Character & Gavin Reed, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 22
Kudos: 85





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So.... tell me what you think! This has defo been in my drafts for a bit, so I decided to send it out uwu   
> Tumblr: @illratte  
> Twitter: @Ill_Ratte

The road stretched lonely ahead of him. Bleak red breaking over the slats of too-white houses. No person in sight, darkness seeping from every window. Still, he needed to run. 

Gavin’s feet slapped against the pavement. Too loud. It would find him. He considered slowing, giving his aching body a break. His chest hurt from running, even with his binder long-forgotten somewhere in the woods, on the first leg of his journey. Already, blood seeped from the lacerations lacing his feet. 

He took in a breath, tasting the deadness that still lingered in the air. It didn’t overpower him, not like last time, so he knew he was safe for at least the moment. 

Slowly, he crept forwards. Quiet. Quiet was key. Breath shot from him in quick, aching bursts. He took it in slower, craning his neck to search around the houses. 

All cookie-cutter white, cut with thick green vines and mold. Deadness undercut the oozing life that emanated from the structures. It wasn’t far behind, even if it wasn’t there now. 

To his left stretched more houses, recessing into dark shadows. While the layout seemed simple enough, the corners of the little paved roads were too tight for him to chance with. Maybe there was food in the houses. He couldn’t remember when he last ate, and the rucksack strapped to his back was frighteningly empty. But to his right was the forest. 

It didn’t like the forest. The trees were too close together to let it through, unless it folded. And it couldn’t climb the trees like he could. 

If Gavin was lucky, the forest would have water. Only half a bottles worth sloshed around in his container, and sticky red coated the insides of his pant legs, a chilling reminder of just how long he had been away from civilization, away from his testosterone and medication, even away from any means of washing himself. But if he was careful, he could track the road from inside the woods. 

Picking up his pace, he ducked into the cover of the trees. The green light filtering down was almost calming, if he forgot the circumstances around it. Like the beginning of his escape. 

It had been almost easy, then. Once he had gotten out, with a pack full of food and water, he had quickly outpaced it. Had thought he was bigger than everything. Untouchable. 

But it had been toying with him. Hadn’t needed to hunt him as he washed himself and refilled his pack. The first trap had said as much. That it knew Gavin, and knew exactly how to draw him back in. 

But he was smarter than it, and now, it was getting desperate. He had never seen it eat, had only seen it resting once. Whatever well of stamina it held inside of itself, it had tapped into. It knew it could outlast him. 

As Gavin crested a hill, ducking low to still be covered by the thick canopy of leaves, he heard something that made his blood run cold. 

Beneath the rustling of leaves in the wind, replacing the fervent chatter of the animals that dotted the forest, came a low, clanging whir. Like a slow, mechanical squeal, the sound haunted whatever snatches of sleep he stole. 

It was coming. 

————————————————

Nines sighed, staring out the window at the flashes of grey and green that passed him by. It was supposed to be a “family” vacation. Something to take their minds off of everything. 

Things had been… tense, to say the least. One of the officers in their department had disappeared. A man slated to be Nines’ partner. 

Some said he left because of it. That he hated androids enough to spiral into a drug-fueled escapade as any means of leaving. Of course, no one had heard from Gavin Reed since, so Nines supposed there was little truth to the story. Still, it sat weird with him, that one of his first acts of being in the world could have lead to something so drastic in someone else’s. 

With Gavin Reed gone, Hank and Connor had had to take up the slack. So when they had finally all received time off in the same chunk of time, Connor had planned an outing for them. A little weekend in a cabin. 

“We there yet?” Hank piped up from the front seat. The man had stretched out as best he could in the passenger’s side, trying not to use too pleading a stare on his husband. 

Connor only chuckled, sparing him a glance as he let the car take over fully. “Soon. We have a few more miles on this highway, Alright? And then we’re the next exit.” 

“Good.” He grumbled, not bad-naturedly. He patted Connor’s hand. 

Nines wondered what it would feel like, to have what Connor had. To have someone to exchange glances with, even someone to argue with. Although he wasn’t one to admit it, he had a bit of a dream. An idea that would take hold of him. A preconstruction of holding someone’s hand, passively, like lovers. 

He was about to slip into it, to let the sensation overwhelm him, when a man stumbled in front of their car.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy this lil update for our poor boy Gavin. Luckily he has a little someone to keep him company tho :)   
> Tumblr: @illratte  
> Twitter: @Ill_Ratte   
> And as always, please tell me what you think in the comments *mwah*

When Gavin had first been put in the hospital, at only 13 with a fractured arm, the one thing he had hated was the the noise. Constant dripping, beeping, crying. Even sleep hadn’t been an escape. 

But now, as he lay clothed in only a flimsy white gown, Gavin liked the noise. It meant that he was safe, and that he was alive. And that it hadn’t found him yet. 

“Are you feeling alright, Reed? You’ve been awfully quiet.” 

Gavin turned over, staring up at the android. He had been one of the ones to find him. Him and Hank and Connor. 

Meeting them was still a blur. He remembered hearing it chasing after him, and he remembered how it felt like someone had set fire to his lungs, and he remembered the way he had crested the hill, almost like falling, when he had locked his eyes on the approaching car. 

He must have stumbled in front of them, more ghost than human. It was a miracle they had hit the brakes in time. He didn’t remember being taken to the hospital, or being redressed into the gown he wore. But he vaguely recalled being bathed, a nurse tutting over him in dismay as she washed away the dried blood from between his legs. 

He had fallen asleep after that, waking intermittently to visitors, Hank and Connor, Chris, Tina, Fowler, and a Doctor detailing his condition. He had been dehydrated and malnourished, with a few scrapes and bruises and a rash. Nothing major, but he still felt like shit. 

“Thought they said they’d get my statement later.” He wasn’t exactly ready to say what happened. Not to anyone, and certainly not to someone who wouldn’t believe him. 

“I’m not here for your statement. Last time I saw you, you mentioned you were afraid of being alone.”

“... Thank you.” He was afraid. The first time, it had lured him out, but he doubted it would be so passive now. The hospital room had one window, thankfully bolted shut. “You didn’t have to.”

“But I wanted to.” The Android peered down at him thoughtfully, blue eyes glowing. 

“Handsome guy like you, you must have something better to do than babysit me.”

“Well, I was supposed to be on vacation with my family, but this takes precedence. Fowler wants all hands on deck, for the time being.”

“Wow. Never thought I’d be the life of the party like that.” 

Talking to Nines was weird. He was the embodiment of everything Gavin had missed, of everything that had been taken from him. The kid had been slated to be his partner, and it made him queasy to think that he had had to go through the motions with someone else. For the months he had been taken, it was like Gavin hadn’t existed. He didn’t like looking at Nines for too long. 

“Also, I… got you something. A present. To keep you company.” The android produced a small stuffed animal from his jacket pocket, a hot pink jaguar with acid green eyes. He imagined the android had picked it up at the CVS across from the hospital, and mentally snickered at the thought. It was definitely a weird gift, especially considering so few had ever bothered with getting Gavin anything, but he liked it. 

Snatching it from Nines’ hand, he clutched it to his chest. It was still cool, and he rubbed his hands through the fur. “It’s perfect, thank you.” 

Nines reached out, his hand hovering like he himself didn’t know what he planned, before he buried it in Gavin’s hair. Gavin jerked back. 

His whole body hurt, stomach churning as bile climbed in his throat. He was back there, hands tensed so hard they hurt and-

“Gavin?”

Gavin blinked. The hand was gone, and Nines stared down at him. “I’m sorry, Gavin, I-“

“It’s fine.” He could still hardly catch his breath. “I think I just need more sleep.” 

Nines nodded, sinking back into the chair. “Of course. I’ll keep watch for you.” 

Gavin nodded, sinking back into the bed and deliberately turning away from the window. As his eyelids drifted closed, he snuggled the stuffed animal against his chest, breathing in deeply. She smelled like fresh air and hospital and something cleaner that was unique to androids. Most of all, she smelled safe. 

_  
Gavin stretched out against the soft heat of the grass, rolling onto his back. Through the glimmering casing, he could glimpse cracks of sky._

_He liked it that way, not having to see all of the sky, he realized. Seeing all that blue was scary, and certainly not as comforting as being safely kept in here by Them._

_He wasn’t hungry or thirsty, but he knew fresh food and water had been laid out for him, and that he didn’t want for anything. He had the Structure to play on when he got bored, and the circular cushion that made up his outdoors bed of he needed rest._

_And if Gavin was a Good Boy, which something told him he wanted to be, They would come and pet him. Just the kind of pets he liked, too, with their hand in his hair and their sharp but not too sharp nails digging in behind his ears. He just had to get up and go out to them, and Gavin would be able to feel safe again._

_He just had to follow the steady tap-tap-tapping…  
_

Gavin woke in a cold sweat. The room was silent, and Nines was gone. And something was looking in through his window. 

He couldn’t see its eyes, but he knew it could make itself tall enough, especially without the trees in the way, to peer inside. He didn’t need to see it to know that it was looking at him. 

Anxiety was in his throat like a monster clawing at him. He wanted to scream, to run, to do anything, but all he could do was stare at the window, cowering in his bed. He had been trapped in a nightmare. 

Opening his mouth, a hiss of air left him. So he drew in a breath, and tried again. The noise that left him was a little louder, and hurt just a little more as it slithered from his throat. The monster hadn’t tried to open the window yet, but Gavin knew it was still there. Waiting.

He hissed out again, barely gaining any volume. His limbs remained frozen in place. As his eyes darted wildly around the room, a slow tingling overcame him as they focused on the center of the window, followed by ice. He was looking right at it, he realized. 

Slowly, like he was watching a movie instead of real life, the window began to jiggle. Gavin’s eyes remained trained on the spot in the center, until he heard the sickening crack of the lock breaking. 

A cold wisp of air pooled into the room as the window started to slide open. Something glimmering and impossibly cracked and dry pushed through the gap, crawling across the sill like a bug. In only a moment, it would touch him. 

So Gavin screamed. 

————-

Nines jolted at the noise. He had only left Gavin for a moment, to go outside and tell the officer sent to get Gavin’s statement that Gavin wasn’t quite ready to talk. It seemed that had been a mistake. 

He was in the room in two seconds, the officer right behind him. “Gavin?” 

“It’s in here! It tried to get in here!” He wailed, the whites of his eyes stark against his face as spit frothed at his lips. 

“What tried to get in here?”

“It! The thing that t-took me!” His eyes remained trained on the window. “It opened the window!”

“You were asleep, weren’t you?” The officer smiled when Gavin nodded. “It must have just been a nightmare. You’ve been through a lot, so it’s only natural.” She seated herself on the side of Gavin’s, Gavin scooting away minutely. 

Nines steppes over to the window. A slight breeze passed through, from a little gap. He frowned, sliding the glass shut. He had thought that the window had been closed when he left, but it would only worry Gavin further to mention it. 

Instead, he reseated himself in the chair, offering little smiles of encouragement for Gavin when he deemed it necessary. 

It made sense why they had sent this particular officer. She was on the younger side, transferred in a few months ago, and mostly worked with children and abuse victims. She had an almost motherly air about her, and Gavin seemed at least a little open to talking. Though, what he said didn’t make any sense. 

He clutched the stuffed animal to himself, kneading the cat’s fur as he mumbled out his story. He said that he had been taken outside of his house, at 4:15 am. That he had heard a cat crying like it was hurt, and that he had gone to investigate. The rest of the story was garbled. 

The most Nines gathered was that Gavin had been held somewhere in the woods by something, and that while it had provided him with adequate food and water, he had been deprived of his hrt, and later any sanitary pads when his menstruation started again. 

The officer winced in sympathy at that, and Gavin hunched into himself. 

“And how did you get out?”

“There was a storm, and I think it didn’t want to leave me outside, so it took me into its… ‘house’. I got away while it was sleeping.”

“Alright. And… would it be alright if we had a rape kit done on you?” 

“I told you it didn’t touch me.” Gavin huffed, staring up at her suspiciously. 

“Yes, but we just want to be sure, ok? If you want, you can have someone with you at all times, ok?” 

Gavin reluctantly nodded. 

“Why don’t you try to get some more sleep, Gavin? And we can get that done with after, once you’re feeling better.” Nines interjected. 

Gavin gave him a small smile. “Thanks. Sounds nice. Promise to stay with me while I’m asleep?” His eyes locked with Nines. Nines had never seen someone so vulnerable. 

“Of course. We’re supposed to be partners, right?”


End file.
